Heading into the off-season the Calgary Flames were everyone's pick to regress in 2015-16.
Most couldn't see a team that fared better in possession than only Buffalo and Colorado being able to repeat last season's success. And, really, who could blame them?
The Flames played some good stretches of hockey but they must have all been carrying around horseshoes in their equipment because they were blessed with a ton of luck.
No team can realistically expect to fall behind every game and continue to come back and win. That's not a recipe for success over a long period of time. The Flames were able to do that a lot last year because they scored on more than 10.5% of their shots. That's not sustainable.
Big changes were necessary if the Flames wanted to get back into the playoffs next season because not everyone will be able to duplicate last year's success.
Luckily big changes did come as GM Brad Treliving went out and acquired a 22-year-old defenseman already playing at a top-pairing level in Dougie Hamilton.
Treliving also signed underrated forward Michael Frolik who not only drives possession, and kills penalties, but also produces points at the rate of a top-6 forward.
Now on top of Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Jiri Hudler, Mark Giordano, T.J. Brodie and an above average goaltending duo the Flames will have Hamilton, Frolik and highly touted prospect Sam Bennett as full-time players moving forward.
Even factoring in expected regression from many players the Flames should be competitive next season.
So, with that in mind, will the Flames be a playoff team again in 2015-16? Have they done enough to duplicate last year's success in a very tough Western Conference?
I'm not sure how high they'll finish but my answer to the first part of that question is yes. What say you?